Dr. Gonzo

I don't have faith in him because as you say he ahs no experience as a recruiter and has been given another "job for the boys". If you reckon he can do the job that's your prerogative but I would rather see someone who has made a career out of it instead of someone who has been thrown in there as a stop-gap.

Based on what exactly? We cannot afford to stuff up this draft at all we need to nail every pick. If we don't have a head recruiter in place then we are not giving ourselves the best chance to do this.

Goalkicking midfielders are worth their weight in gold and we have close to none. It is why I couldn't give a stuff if Moloney stays or goes and why I am so disappointed in Sylvia as he has the potential but only does it a couple of times a year.

Fitness.

Things like this seriously make me question WTF they are doing down there. I don't know this guy from a bar of soap and he may be a great identifier of talent but unless he can help us in this year's draft what's the point? If they can get Rendell on a short-term contract (something which sounds way too fanciful to be any likelihood of occuring) great but if we go into this year's draft/trade period with only Viney heading the recruiting department god help us all.

Excellent post, particularly re: the Northey years. I have been following the Demons since 1987 when I was 5 years old. Never have I seen a team in those 25 seasons that has been a consistent performer week in, week out. Go back and look at the results from 1988, 1989 & 1990 and compare them to 2004, 2005 & 2006. Striking similarities in losing winnable games to lowly oppoisition, going on 5-6 game losing streaks, getting ahead of ourselves once we started to perform well and all in all shooting ourselves in the foot and costing us a double chance in the finals. Every year we made the finals under Northey we played in Elimination Finals, we never played a Qualifying Final or god forbid had the first week off. Similar story in 2004 after we topped the ladder after round 18, 2005 where we went on a diabolical losing streak after playing a top of the table match against WCE and 2006 where we lost twice to wooden spooners Carlton.

I seriously cannot comprehend the people who are already talking about Neeld's job being in jeopardy. He has coached 8 games FFS. 8 GAMES!!! I don't like to sledge people but anyone who is already thinking Neeld may not be coach by R1 2013 is an idiot.

This is true and I would prefer to get a guy like Dangerfield or even Caddy but we have so much room in the cap (even more if senior players move on) that it will really depend how we structure the contract as to whether it is worth it or not. Would we want to be paying him $550-$600K in the third year of a contract? No but if we can pay him $800-850K in the first year of a 3 year contract and $400K in the last I wouldn't be complaining.

Good on you for coming on here mate - we do appreciate your support and I hope you don't take any of the comments on here personally because they're not directed at you. I'm I right in saying that you began your "bugling" life at the MFC as a member of the crowd who let rip with it when we had a game in the bag and the club jumped on it and made it into the pre-match spectacle? Or is my memory deceiving me?

Bartel & Hodge for mine. Love watching Ablett, Franklin & Rioli's freakish skills, but love the hardness of Bartel & Hodge and their abilties to just get the job done when it matters. I'm hoping Trengove is another player in their mould.

Let Cook develop for a couple of years then bring him in if form demands/when his body is the right size for AFL - we already have enough malnourished kids in Watts, Morton, Blease etc

I am another who hates the bugler and cringes with embarassment every time he pomps out there to play. I agree with Supermercado the flag hoist was a new low for the club and I am glad they saw the sense to ditch it after one game. I don't think they need to get rid of the bugler altogether though - what I would like to see (and what I think he originally started as) is for him to remain in the crowd and begin playing the bugle towards the end of games when we have secured a win (similar to Joffa and Kennett with their jackets except not completely stupid). Now granted this would mean we would have no need for him this year and he will end up at Centrelink in Toorak (do they even have one out that way?) but it would be a much better way to utilise him, less cringeworthy and would get the crowd involved in singing "Grand Old Flag" in the stands on the way to a win.

Jack Watts must play in the forward 50 next to Mitch Clark all day.

To anyone who knows anything about Melbourne King made himself out to be one of the biggest fools of all last night and revealed his ignorance for all to see. I'm the first to acknowledge we have issues but King was wrong in pretty much every single thing he said.

If someone lets loose and takes out Mitch Robinson it will all be worth it. Sadly I can't see this happening.

Schwab's just one of the boys.

Look I don't think we need to go rehashing old ground but the problems we have today were evident in the Daniher era. Not saying it was caused then (the roots seem to go very deep) but they were quite clearly evident then. If you go back to the Balme era, "Hollywood Boulevard" is another symptom of the culture we need to overturn if we ever want this club to be successful again.

King had no idea what he was talking about. It was embarrassing for him.

The reason I don't buy 100% into the "lynch the senior players" mob is because looking at a guy like Trengove I cannot fathom that he is struggling this year because he is unhappy with the appointment of the new coach or sulking because Neeld/Craig/Misson told them they are not fit enough or working hard enough. He is one of our worst performers this year and (barring injury which is not an excuse once you cross the white line) I can't see how it can be related to a perceived rift between the players and the FD/coach.

Not so sure about that. Jones is a workhorse who has improved but showed similar signs last year. Probably our most consistently competitive player. Watts? He still struggles to run out halves and games and was burnt by Fisher in the Saints game. Blease? He's hardly played all year, don't know how you can hang your hat on that. I'm not offering excuses for the players as I think there is definitely some "blame" to be put on them - they ahve been underperforming for years (even before Bailey) after all and have been consistently soft front-runners who shy away from hard work and pressure. However if they are being handicapped by the training regime at the moment it would be difficult for them to compete on game day with other teams who 1) already have the elite fitness base we strive for and 2) are able to rest and recuperate during the week instead of going through another gruelling training session. Now I'm not saying that the training load is necessarily a bad thing, I think it is a necessary evil with a view to 2013 and getting us fit ASAP without having to wait until 2014 potentially (and 2 more pre-seasons) to get them up to speed. However it may be unfair to give the players the reaction they are currently receiving if this is the case and if they are left to cop the flak for poor performances due to the actions of the FD the I can't see any perceived rift between the two healing any time soon. So what is the answer? I think we need to support the CLUB through this period and stand by them to do the right thing. The club includes all facets be they the coach, FD, players, CEO or board. As supporters looking from the outside in I think it is impossible to assess and critique them (particularly Neeld and the new FD but also some of the players ) until at least next year when they have had time to settle and implement the strategies put in place that will hopefully see us succeed. This collective losing our [censored] which has gone on since Saturday is pretty embarrassing. I understand people's frustrations (be they with the coach, players, CEO etc) but can we at least give them a chance to prove themselves before wanting to raze the entire club to the ground?

Well if Neeld gets the sack before the end of next season I will seriously question whether it is worth continiuing in my support of the MFC. I cannot comprehend how this might happen even if we go 0-22 this year. I would sooner see Schwab, Connolly & Royal shown the door and perhaps even as spill of the board before Neeld got the chop. You don't turn around a 40 year old rotten culture overnight. You either back Neeld to do it (and wear the crap that goes with it along the way) or you second-guess yourself and continue to wallow in the medicority of near-enough is good enough.

I cannot comprehend how anyone thinks Neeld should be sacked this year let alone believes it might happen. I know we have all been kicked in the guts but get a grip on reality.

Really? Really? REALLY??? Can we just put this crap behind us please.

I'm in two minds about this. On one hand I agree with the frustration show by all MFC supporters (both public and private figures) and think the laziness and sense of entitlement of the senior players is a legacy from prior coaches and administrations. I think the senior players need a big boot up their arse and a few (most?) of them should be on the chopping block at the end of the year. On the other hand though (and something I've only really considered over the last couple of days) I think we have to bear in mind the training load the new FD is making the players go through where they are basically continuing to do pre-season work throughout the season in order to get their fitness levels up for 2013 and beyond. If they are doing heavy mid-week sessions when other clubs are resting and recuperating then I think it is no wonder that they look lacklustre and as though they are not trying on game day. If they are training heavily I don't think this is a bad thing as we definitely have a legacy of lack of fitness with the playing group. However if they are being bashed from pillar to post by all and sundry (including media, supporters and former players) and are getting belted on the field every week then I can see the players losing confidence in Neeld and the FD very shortly. Basically they are having their legs taken out from them by the FD and then left to cop all the flak. I don't think there is a real answer as I think it is a necessary evil for the club to go through in order to get up to "elite" standards however having former players and supporters all sticking the boot in certainly won't do anything to help the situation.

If you want to know why we're dishing up the rubbish we're dishing up, read the "Misson's Mission" article from last Friday. We are training in 2012 with an eye to moulding the list at the end of the year and having the players have a fitness base to be able to compete and run out games in 2013. After reading that article I've decided to go a bit easier on the players this year as it would be difficult for them to put out the effort we expect if they're effectively playing 2 matches a week.